One World Weblog

Specialty coffee information and content from One World Roasters!

Green Coffee is Good Coffee—Why Sustainability Matters to Us (And Should Matter to You, Too!)

At One World Roasters, coffee is a passion, but even more than that—it’s a responsibility. We are of course responsible to our
customers to provide the finest perfectly roasted coffees from around the world, but beyond that we also recognize our role in the grand scheme of things. As roasters, we are but one piece of an
ever-flowing collaboration that spans several continents, families, and ecosystems. We owe it to every person, creature, and habitat involved to make sure that our lasting mark is a positive one.

As Connecticut’s premier organic coffee roaster, we see the power we all have to make positive changes around us in the little things we do—whether sourcing
from organic coffee farmers or seeing to it that these farmers are paid a fair living wage. Here is a simple rundown of the ways we strive to make a difference, and why we believe they
matter:

2) Fair Trade / Rainforest Certified —And beyond just health risks, there are many other factors that make life as a coffee
farmer very difficult and unpredictable. While we hardly notice any fluctuations in our steady supply of coffee, the international price of coffee is always subject to sudden price drops that can
leave many families that depend on this seasonal crop for yearly income struggling just to get by. The hardest working people in the coffee industry deserve better than this; that’s why we see it as
our duty to make sure that all of our coffees are fair trade. We also seek out Rainforest Alliance certified coffee farms that teach farmers better practices for higher profits and lower environmental impact.

3) Bird-friendly / Shade-grown—If we know one thing very well, it’s that faster is NOT always better. Modern technology allows
growers to cultivate lower quality Robusta coffees at a faster rate, but at a tremendous cost to the environment. “Sun-grown” coffees deplete soil and lead to deforestation, which threatens countless
species of South American, African, and Asian wildlife (2/3rds of the Mexican and Central American rainforests have disappeared in
the last 40 years). Wherever possible One World Roasters looks to collaborate with bird-friendly farms that use natural “shade-grown” practices, like Spirit Mountain in the Dominican Republic. Not only are their coffees better for the environment, but their slower harvesting process
makes for richer more complex coffee beans that give our Dominican Roast such a tremendous taste.

4) Green Roasting—When choosing our coffee roasting technology, it was very important to us to design a process that gave us
maximum control over flavor and our carbon footprint. Many big coffee roasters use outdated technology and blue flame burners that create a great deal of hazardous gases. We equipped our facilities
with Diedrich’s renowned roasters that use infrared burners to cut down on CO2 emissions and create a
cleaner overall process. Our coffee “chaff,” which comes off the beans in the roasting process, is also repurposed and used in community gardens.

At the end of the day, there is only so much a certification can do or guarantee, but if we can become more conscious of our choices and make that extra
effort wherever we can to facilitate positive change, we believe it is well worth it, and we hope as fellow coffee lovers that you’ll join us on this mission.

To great taste and a better world,

One World Roasters

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